Indian Railways (Hindi: ?????? ??? Bh?rat?ya Rail), abbreviated as IR (Hindi: ??.??.), is a departmental undertaking of Government of India, which owns and operates most of India's rail transport. It is overseen by the Ministry of Railways of the Government of India...Indian Railways has 113,617 kilometres (70,598 mi) of total track over a route of 63,974 kilometres (39,752 mi) and 7,083 stations. It has the world's fourth largest railway network after those of the United States, Russia and China.The railways traverse the length and breadth of the country and carry over 30 million passengers and 2.8 million tons of freight daily. It is the world's second largest commercial or utility employer, with more than 1.36 million employees. As for rolling stock, IR owns over 219,931 (freight) wagons, 51,030 coaches and 8,889 locomotives..Railways were first introduced to India in 1853. By 1947, the year of India's independence, there were forty-two rail systems. In 1951 the systems were nationalised as one unit, becoming one of the largest networks in the world. IR operates both long distance and suburban rail systems on a multi-gauge network of broad, metre and narrow gauges. It also owns locomotive and coach production facilities. [source: Wikipedia]